China has dismantled more than 1.9 million square meters of development in 2,000 hotels, restaurants and holiday resorts surrounding scenic spots throughout the country, greatly improving the scenic environments.

At a conference on comprehensive regulation of scenery on Saturday, Qiu Baoxing, vice president of the Ministry of Construction, said the ministry has vetoed more than 1,000 construction projects that would damage the resources and environments of scenic areas, and has dismantled about 1.4 million square meters of illegally constructed buildings.

Over 2,000 hotels, restaurants and holiday resorts were removed, and 78, 000 residents have been relocated from the scenic spots.

Qiu said China boasts 181 national scenic spots and 480 famous tourist attractions at the provincial level. However, ten national scenic spots are not up to national standards, while 40 others barely meet it. Some scenic spots have not finished with planning, and some are threatened by serious managerial problems.

The construction ministry requires that reforms should be carried out in these areas before next June, or their nominations may be withdrawn.

The ministry started comprehensive regulation of national scenic spots in 2003.

(CRI December 2, 2007)